pilgrim roads, rituals & destinations

Tag Archives: excavation

The ecclesiastical settlement at Glendalough, Co. Wicklow was one of Ireland’s most important centres of pilgrimage from the early medieval period to the 19th century. I have visited this site on many occasions and each time I see something that I havent noticed before.

St Kevin’s Church at Glendalough

This visit luckily coincided with the School of Archaeology UCD, research excavation at the upper lake. This excavation is part of a research and teaching project focusing on the Glendalough Valley which has been on going since 2009. This year their team of archaeologists and students are doing a geophysical survey at an area called the pattern bank close to the round tower at the lower lake and they are excavating a number of trenches at the upper lake. One of the trenches contains a possible medieval leacht. The leacht was part of the post medieval pilgrim landscape and excavation will prove if it was also part of the medieval pilgrim landscape.